Posted on 03/03/2012 8:32:15 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Rush Limbaugh has posted a statement on his website this afternoon, forwarded by his brother David (one of my friends on line), apologizing for calling Sandra Fluke an insulting name while discussing her claims. It’s impossible to retain the context of his apology by excerpting it, so I hope Rush will not mind me posting it in its entirety:
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.
I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
I think Rush did the right thing in apologizing to Fluke. However, let’s keep in mind that it was Fluke who made her sexual activity a matter of national political debate by insisting that the government pass laws and regulations forcing employers and insurers to provide her free contraception, and apparently as much as she and others demand. It’s Republicans who believe that contraception should remain a private affair, and that employers and insurers should be free to decide whether to cover contraception for their employees and customers or not. Democrats used Fluke to demand that those choices be stripped from private enterprises and instead be forced by the executive branch to entirely subsidize contraception.
That is the argument we should be making, as Republicans and conservatives. If you want your sexual choices to remain private, don’t use the government to force other people to subsidize them. Then we won’t have to turn the sex lives of Georgetown law school students into topics for political speculation.
Update: Along those same lines, does Donna Brazile also now oppose the government mandate to force employers and insurers to have a role in the decision to use contraception? She tweeted this message not too long ago (via Keder):
Agree! The government should have no role in contraception, and shouldn’t force employers or insurers to have a role in it, either. Keep it between the woman, her sexual partner, and her doctor. Well said.
Oh, wait, Brazile meant this in support of the mandate? She seems just as badly misinformed on the issue as her media colleagues … or as deliberately obtuse.
I suspect you are right. I have wondered why he kept it up this long. Either love of his job, or he is maxed out. Sadly we will know soon. I think he is done this time.
It's easy to criticize businesses when you aren't the one who is being squeezed by every bureaucratic office imaginable.
I think Rush was RIGHT in his original statement and he's right apologizing for his word choice.
A voice of reason. Thank you. I’ve spent years defending Rush to people that don’t listen to him, but only hear what’s said or printed about him. He was right to apologize, people, good people make mistakes. He didn’t need to go down the “slut” road to make his point. She may be a liar, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a slut. She didn’t ask others to pay for her to have sex. She wants others to pay for her contraception when she has sex. None of which I agree with. I won’t defend him for it, he shouldn’t have said it. I will defend him for his apology. Which is the right thing to do.
Thank you.
If this economy doesn’t get any better I may have to do the same.
“Today, we lost the election, and the country.”
No we didn’t. No one with a reasonable point of view is going to think that contraceptives should be free to those who can afford to pay for them. It’s just a matter of how you put the argument. Rush made a strategic error by name calling. He didn’t need to.
The left plays divide and conquer. It’s one of the most effective plays in their playbook. We need to do the same. Make the point that if insurance companies have to pay for contraceptives for sexually active university ‘students’ they may have to cut back on coverage for grandma’s cancer therapy. Talk about what’s been cut already. Show all the recent quotes that have been made about ‘end of life care’, and make the case that the left cares more about paying for the sexual activities of college students than it does about giving the elderly a chance to survive longer and see their grandchildren grow. Show the math regarding how much money it will cost insurance companies to provide ‘free’ contraceptives to students who found the money somehow to pay for tuition etc.
These people are like the Islamists: if they can’t stop Rush this way, when will the death threats begin?
The problem is that she did not testify to congress and was never under oath. If she had been, she would have perjured herself and should be headed for jail. That should be the story is correct.
excellent
Now, since sluts is a bad word we don’t use just because the left does it and worse, raise your daughters to not be “flukes”
“fluke” joins the casual sex lexicon along with “lewinsky”. fluke being a noun while lewinsky is a noun or a verb
and advise Rush’s former sponsors to sign up for the Bill Maher show to showcase their corporate values
It does no good to apologize to people who have an agenda to destroy you. The apology will NEVER be accepted, and will only be perceived as a weakness to be exploited.
This goes for Rush, and for America as a whole.
To all you supposed Christians out there. What would Jesus have done?
Rush Limbaugh and all these hacks are all about making money for themselves and giving you what you want to hear. All they care about is themselves.
The important thing is never put your faith in a public figure to look out for your well-being. Trust in yourself and be responsible that YOU are staying true to the principles of the founding fathers.
She is an avowed Catholic and perhaps her Religeon and her Politics is causing consternation.
The only way to save this country at this point is an exteme reduction in the size of the federal government and the arrest and prosecution of nearly the entire current government and members of both parties.
We’re seeing right now how accepting much of the population has become to government controlling their lives. This is exactly the kind of soft tyranny that the founding fathers were worried about when they founded America in the first place.
Yes, Rush made a strategic error by name-calling. That's now the story-line, instead of the substance of the issue. Rush, Georgetown, and the right in general have a simple script they should follow:
"No one is denying Ms. Fluke access to birth-control. No one is suggesting her access be limited. Ms. Fluke chose to attend a Catholic institution, knowing full-well and in advance that any health plans offered through the university had exclusions for birth-control. She chose to attend anyway. Ms. Fluke still, and always, has the option of obtaining insurance independent of Georgetown, and that would provide the coverages she seeks. You would have to ask Ms. Fluke why she didn't choose this route, but let's be clear: not having the option available from Georgetown University does not mean she does not have other options.
As to the larger issue of leftists, under the guise of US Government policy, mandating health insurance inclusions, we maintain that such mandates are violations of the Constitution, on both religious freedom and commerce grounds, and we will not bow to such pressure. Consider us conscientious objectors. If the Government would like to sue Georgetown, or the Catholic Church, that is their option. But be assured, it will be pursued to the Supreme Court if necessary, and the leftists clearly will lose."
Other lines of discussion regarding who pays, what's free vs. not, whether evil Republicans are setting women's rights back decades, etc. are ALL side-shows - DESIGNED to distract us from the key goal and mission of unseating Obama this fall. The democrat polices have failed, and are failing still. REAL unemployment is over 15%; the national debt is an immense burden on us and future generations; the deficit is unsustainable, as are the continual and increase future obligations for ObamaCare. Energy policies are incoherent, and dangerous to our national security and national interests. $4.00 gasoline is costing the average driver nearly $2,000/year more than when Obama took office. Etc., etc., etc.
We need to stay focused people!
I forgot about some of these:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/the-last-six-times-rush-limbaugh-apologized
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